Sonic and the Legend of Okami
by heroes1202
Summary: The third entry in the "Sonic Storybook" series following "Black Knight " and "Unleashed". Sonic travels with Tails to Spagonia to see Professor Pickle, who has uncovered ancient text. But after reading it, Sonic is thrown into ancient Japan. Now, partnered with a spirit named Okami, Sonic must thwart the revival of a great ancient evil before it escapes to his time.
1. Ch 1: Enter the Brave Hedgehog

_A long time ago, in a land forgotten and washed away by time, a great battle took place that would determine the fate of the entire world. Fortunately, in this fight, the light prevailed and evil was sealed away, never seen again for more than a millenium._

_However, today, Professor Pickle, a well renouned professor at Spagonia University and keeper of the Gaia Manuscripts, went on an expedition in which he uncovered forgotten literature and text from this lost world. Unbeknowst to the thrilled professor, by uncovering the texts, he has accidentally caused the seal on the king of evil from ancient times to become loosened. Now, the days of old are being threatened once again by this evil power and its protector has vanished from sight._

_All hope has been lost as the evil soon will escape from the texts and wreak havoc on the present day. But, when all seems lost, a new light enters the fray to save this once forgotten time. His name...is Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog..._

**_Sonic and the Legend of Okami_**

**_Chapter 01: Enter the Brave Hedgehog_**

Our story opens in modern day Spagonia as Sonic and Tails are seen entering the city. Their goal for today is visiting their friend Professor Pickle, a man to whom they owe gratitude for assisting them during the "Dark Gaia" crisis. Sonic yawned and stretched his arms out wide.

"So, Tails, remind me again WHY we're going to see ol' Pickle? Not that I don't like the guy, but he tells the most BORING of stories!" he groaned. Tails glanced at him.

"Don't you remember Sonic? It was all over the news. "Professor Pickle of Spagonia uncovers forgotten ancient texts". He uncovered them when he was on an expedition in Chun-Nan." Tails explained, causing Sonic to glance at him. But, to that, he merely gives a shrug.

"So what? You know I like a book or two, but I prefer it in a language I can actually UNDERSTAND." he said. Tails chuckled.

"I know Sonic. But just think of what else Professor Pickle could have uncovered in his expedition. I mean, we could be talking about artifacts and relics from centuries in the past! Doesn't that excite you?" Tails mentioned. To that, Sonic gave a yawn.

"Nope. Not really." he said. Tails sighed.

"Oh boy Sonic. Sometimes I think the only thing that excites you are chili dogs and running." Tails said. Hearing the word "chili dog", Sonic licked his lips.

"Yeah. I sure love those. By the way, when's lunch Tails?" he asked. Tails sighed again, pressing his hand against his face and lightly shaking his head.

**_~ SONIC ~_**

Later that day, Sonic and Tails enter the room of Professor Pickle at Spagonia University. Tails gives a light knock before opening the door.

"Professor Pickle? Hello? Are you in?" Tails asked. They both peeked inside and saw the professor asleep at his desk. A big snot bubble was seen from his nose.

"Professor? Its us, Sonic and Tails." Tails replied. The two approached the professor's desk and looked on at the sleeping Pickle.

"Oh man. I guess old folk really DO need to catch up on their sleep. Makes me wonder why I've never seen the doc this way...considering how old HE must be." Sonic teased. Tails looked to Sonic before facing Pickle again, gently knocking on his desk. The sound woke the professor up, causing him to stutter and grumble as he looked around.

"H-Hello?! Ah! Who's there?!" he yelled. Just then, he spotted Sonic and Tails waving at him. After taking a closer look, the professor chuckled.

"Oh ho ho! Sonic! Tails! Welcome lads! W-When did you arrive?" he asked.

"Just now. Say, professor, what's this Tails keeps telling me about ancient text and artifacts you found on an expedition?" Sonic asked. The professor smiled as he stood up from his desk and approached them.

"Ah yes. What a find that was. You see Sonic, when I was away from Spagonia since the "Dark Gaia" crisis, I decided to spend my free time in exploring the corners of our world. And, while my assistant and I were on a trip in Chun-Nan, we came upon a lost shrine deep in the forests outside of town. There, we found all sorts of archaeological treasures." Pickle explained. He approached a corner of the room and picked up a cardboard box, handing it to Tails. Inside were various worn out pieces of paper and ancient scrolls and books.

"So...all of this was inside the shrine?" Sonic asked. The professor lightly shook his head.

"Not quite. There were all kinds of relics inside as well, possibly as homage to ancient warriors of old. I-In fact, the university is unveiling them tonight at a gala premier. If you boys would like to, I can give you a sneak peek." he said. Tails gasped.

"Wow! Really?! That'd be so cool! Thanks Professor Pickle!" he exclaimed. The professor chortled.

"I'd do anything to repay the ones that helped save our world from that villanous Doctor Eggman and the malicious Dark Gaia." he chuckled. As the two were just leaving the room, Tails noticed Sonic staying behind, taking a seat on one of the couches.

"Sonic, aren't you gonna come?" Tails asked. Sonic glanced at him.

"Nah. You go ahead Tails. I think I'll just chill out here...maybe read one of the professor's books or something." Sonic said "Looking at old stuff isn't my thing." Tails chuckled.

"Okay then. I'll be back soon." he said, walking out with Professor Pickle. With them gone, Sonic yawned and stretched his arms out wide, crossing his legs before settling into a comfy position.

"So...what to do...what to do..." he said. He lightly glanced towards the box of literature that Tails left behind, situated on the table in front of him.

"Ehh...maybe I'll see what the big deal about these are." he shrugged. Picking up one of the worn books from the box, he flipped open the pages and began reading the enscriptions within. However, after a while of reading, he saw the words starting to give off a faint red light.

"Huh? Wh-What the?!" Sonic gasped. He closed the book, still seeing red light shining from the pages. Just then, the other pieces of text in the box started to glow as well. In no time at all, the words seemed to be floating off the pages and gathered together into the air above Sonic. Even the book he had closed burst open and the words gathered above. When all the words became a glowing red sphere, there was a large flash of light.

"G-Gah!" Sonic yelled, shielding his eyes. The light continued to shine until it began to fade. And, when it did, as Sonic looked back towards the table, he saw a beautiful white furred wolf situated in front of him.

"H-Huh? Where did you come from doggy?" he asked. The wolf was covered in strange red markings on its shoulders, tail and head.

**_~ SONIC ~_**

For a while, the wolf and Sonic simply stared at one another, each not saying a word. Just then, Sonic began to gently lean forward with one hand out, trying to pet the wolf. He successfully made contact with the beast, gently rubbing its head.

"Say, you're a friendly little fellow. What's your name?" he asked. Just then, the wolf gave out a loud bark, spooking Sonic slightly, before leaping into the air. The book Sonic was previously reading suddenly opened again and the wolf dived head first into the pages, disappearing on contact.

"Uhhh...okay? Am...I supposed to follow it?" he thought. He took a quick glance around the room, betting Tails wouldn't be back anytime soon.

"Well, since I got some time to kill, I might as well see what this dog wants." he said. Rising from the couch, Sonic picked up the book and set it down on the ground. He took a few steps back before making a quick jump towards the book. Almost as if expecting Sonic, the book flashed open and he was enveloped by a red light, vanishing as soon as he hit the page.

_...Flashing Through Time and Space..._

The scenery changes to that of a large forest, full of thick trees both alive and dead. The sky above was that of a glistening dark sky with no signs of any stars or the moon. All was quiet until, in a flash of light, Sonic appeared.

"Whoa! Talk about a ride!" he yelled. Just then, he noticed the forest he was surrounded by.

"Huh? Hey. Where am I? This doesn't look like Spagonia to me." he said. Just then, he heard the sounds of a wolf howl coming from the distance. Hearing the sound, his mind pictured the wolf he met earlier.

"Hey! That sounds like that dog! I'd better go see what's up." Sonic said. With a burst of speed, Sonic found himself rushing through the forest, avoiding each tree he came past. He continued racing through the forest floor until he came upon a large clearing. There, he saw the wolf from before with a giant monster dressed in ancient Japanese armor, carrying a massive blade in one hand. The wolf seemed very battered and beaten, almost to the point of exhaustion. Before Sonic's eyes, the beast collapsed.

"H-Hey! Are you okay?!" he called. Hearing his voice, the giant turned towards Sonic, glaring at him with bright red eyes. Sonic and the behemoth glared at one another before Sonic gave a smirk.

"Okay big guy! Big mistake challenging ME to a fight! Let's go!" he shouted. He curled up into a ball and came at him with a spin dash towards his legs. But to Sonic's surprise, the spin dash did nothing and blasted him backwards.

"Whoa! Wh-What was that?!" he yelled. The giant beast roared and swung its giant sword towards him. But Sonic jumped into the air, avoding the blow and gave a homing attack towards the beast's head. But even his homing attack didn't seem to do anything as he tumbled over upon impact, landing alongside the wounded wolf.

"Dang it! Even THAT didn't phase him?!" he groaned. The giant growled and slowly began to turn around. Just then, Sonic felt something brush his foot. Looking down, he saw the wolf trying to reach out to him.

"Oh! Its you!" he gasped. The wolf looked up at him, almost as if it wished to help him.

"Hey pal, listen, I'd like any help you can give, but...you look like you went through quite a beating. Maybe you ought to sit this out." he said. But the wolf gave a light growl, forcing itself back onto its feet. Once upon all four legs, the wolf turned towards the giant beast alongside Sonic.

"Well, all right. If you've got the energy to stand, I'll appreciate some back up. By the way, I dunno if you remember, but we met before. I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog. And you are...?" he asked, reaching for the dog's head. But just as his hand made contact with him, the markings on its body began glowing brightly.

"H-Huh?!" he gasped. Light enveloped the two as the giant simply stood and watched. It soon became a bright sphere with the same strange markings that were on the wolf. When it disappated, only Sonic was left. But now, things were different.

"Man. What is UP with all of these light shows?" Sonic asked. Just then, he noticed himself and gasped.

"Wh-What the?! What happened to me?!" he shouted. His entire body was solid white as the edges of his gloves and socks, as well as his ear tips, appeared to ablaze like fire. His belly was a giant dark red spot as he saw strange markings on his shoulders and the back of his gloves. The ends of his spikes were dark red and more ragged as he had a gray muzzle with solid gold eyes.

"Whoa. Either I just fused with that wolf or I've eaten WAY too many chili dogs lately!" Sonic thought. Just then, he looked up and saw the giant about to swing his sword again. But the instant it came crashing down, Sonic seemed to have warped away in a flash of gold light, appearing behind the behemoth's head. He went into a lightning fast homing attack, knocking into the giant and causing it to go crashing down. Afterwards, he made a perfect landing on the ground.

"H-Hey! I actually damaged it!" he called. Looking at his body, he tightened his hands into fists before glaring back at the giant, rising from the ground.

"I get it. That wolf must've shared its powers with me in order to fight this thing. Heh. Well, things just got interesting." he said. The giant gave a deep growl as it glared over at Sonic, seeing him crack his flaming knuckles.

"All right you big bozo! BRING IT!" Sonic called before charging head first towards him.

**_TO BE CONTINUED..._**


	2. Ch 2: The Tale of Darkness

**_Sonic and the Legend of Okami_**

**_Chapter 02: The Tale of Darkness_**

Sonic, fused with the powers within the mystical wolf, came charging towards the giant at high speeds. With one powerful jump, he came directly at the giant and slammed into it from the front. The impact ricochet Sonic backwards, but cause the giant to tumble over and crash to the ground, his helmet thrown from his head.

"Heh heh! All right! Now we're getting somewhere!" Sonic snickered. With the helmet thrown off, Sonic could see more of his opponent's face. It appeared to have the face of a dark red skin demon with a long, wart covered nose. It had giant eyes that glared angrily at Sonic.

"Yeesh! Put your helmet back on! You looked better with it!" he gagged, turning away. Sensing the opportunity, the giant suddenly rose back up and took hold of its sword. It roared and gave a mighty swing, trying to slice Sonic in two. But as the sword seemed to make contact, once again, Sonic vanished in a flash of gold light and came closer towards the demon's face.

"Heh! Didn't you learn from last time? That's NOT gonna work!" he yelled. The demon gasped as Sonic went into a midair spin dash, launching himself directly into the beast's face. But this time, he was enveloped in a wheel of fire. The blast was powerful enough to send the giant tumbling down again, but this time, when it hit the ground, it evaporated into black bursts of fire.

"Yeah! Take THAT!" Sonic laughed, landing on the ground. Sensing there was no one else around, Sonic began to lower his guard and took a deep breath.

"Phew. That took a little more out of me than I thought. Guess I'm not used to this form yet." he thought, looking at his hands. Suddenly, a giant light flashed before his eyes, enveloping him in it. When the light faded, he found himself within a strange new realm.

* * *

_It was a vast, empty land coated by a warming autumn light. Sonic seemed motionless, floating just above the ground. Just then, he saw a small red light glowing on his chest._

_"H-Huh?" he muttered. The light flew from his chest and stopped ahead of him, suddenly beginning to grow and change. It took the form of the white wolf from before, fully recovered._

_"Hey. I know you. Your that wolf..." he said, too amazed to speak. The wolf glared on at him for a short while until Sonic began to question._

_"Uhhh...can you talk? I must've asked for your name TWICE now and you still haven't said anything." he asked. The wolf sat down on its hind legs and glared into Sonic's eyes._

_"Okami...my name is Okami." it said. Sonic's eyes partially widened, surprised to hear the wolf speak telepathically._

_"Okami? That's your name?" he asked. The wolf nodded._

_"So, tell me Okami, where the heck are we?" he asked. _

_"This is the land of old, a place in which has been lost to the flow of time. It is called Nippon...and it faces complete destruction." Okami said. Sonic crossed his arms, remaining quiet as a mouse._

_"For many centuries, our world remained peaceful, having been untouched by your kind for more than a millenium. However, as of late, outside activity has caused our world to be threatened. When a being from your world, Pickle as he is called, uncovered the text, he unknowingly caused a great calamity that re-awoke a century old evil. And it has begun to ravage Nippon again." the wolf continued. Sonic raised a brow._

_"Again"? You mean this has happened before?" Sonic asked. Okami nodded._

_"Yes. Long ago, when our land was just beginning to bloom and grow, evil clouded the skies and tried to overrun our beloved Nippon in darkness. The world's guardian, the great goddess Amaterasu, pushed the darkness away by introducing the warming powers of the sun to the inhabitants of this land. As the darkness was driven, it eventually returned with great force to reclaim the land. However, Amaterasu fought hard and sealed the evil away." Okami explained. The two continued to look on at each other with Sonic deeply interested in the story._

_"However, the outside interference of Pickle has caused the seal upon the evil ones to be weakened and bits of those from the demonic realm have begun to escape." the wolf continued._

_"W-What?! Demonic realm?! You mean...that thing we just fought was a demon?!" Sonic asked. Okami nodded._

_"Yes. Had you not arrived when you did, my life would surely have been snuffed out. And should I have been snuffed, so would have Nippon's only chance for the sun to return. You see, I was created from what powers remain of the goddess Amaterasu and was given life by Sakuya, the tree spirit that dwells within the nearby town. She told me it was my job to face the evil in Amaterasu's place, whose exact location, currently, is unknown..." Okami said. Sonic nodded._

_"Okay. Lemme see if I got all this. This place, Nippon, is under threat by a previously locked up super evil dude and you're the only one in this whole place that can do anything about it? Man. Talk about having the world on your shoulders." Sonic said "Now I'm really glad I decided to follow you here." Okami looked on at Sonic._

_"I get the feeling you showed yourself to me because you needed my help, yeah? Well, don't worry. You can count on it. I never leave anyone suffering behind. That's not how this hedgehog rolls." he continued. Okami nodded._

_"Yes. I appeared before you because I had a feeling you would be of great asset. And I was right...for we were able to fuse our souls together to combat the great evil's minions." Okami said. Sonic thought back, remembering the flash of light that transformed him._

_"Oh yeah. I remember that. You turned me into a living candle." Sonic chuckled. Okami sighed, causing Sonic to look with worry._

_"I am sorry for that. My powers have been greatly weakened by the evil that coats Nippon like a stain. When there is an evil aura around, I can sense it and easily dispatch it. But when it is too much for me, my powers begin to weaken and I slowly transform into a regular powerless mortal." the wolf said. Sonic asked what that had to do with the two of them merging._

_"In order to keep myself safe, I was blessed with an ability that allows me to share my powers with that of someone from another world, someone whose power is on a similar plane to my own. Naturally, it cannot be anyone from my world. That is the reason I called you. Until the sun can shine again over the land of Nippon, I need to remain merged with you so I can feel safe." Okami said. Sonic nodded._

_"Okay. So you want me to be your bodyguard while this evil night sky is out. I gotcha. Heh. Don't worry. You can count on me. I won't let you get snuffed out." Sonic said. The wolf looked on at Sonic._

_"Thank you. Then, for the time being, I must remain within you. Think of me as part of you and use our combined strength to bring the sun back to Nippon and drive away the evil." it said. Sonic nodded._

_"All right. So, how do we get rid of this darkness?" he asked. The wolf looked to the sky, as did Sonic, seeing the outside world from Sonic's eyes._

_"Somewhere in this forest, there exists a magical tree called the Guardian Sapling. These not only are linked to Sakuya herself, but they provide protection in the corners of Nippon from the evil one's powers. If we can restore their glow, they will be able to provide a barrier that will allow my powers to flourish again. Let us start there." Okami said. Sonic nodded, closing his eyes afterwards._

* * *

When his eyes opened again, he was back in the thick forest where he and Okami met.

"All right Okami. You point the way and I'll head there. And don't worry about keeping track of time. With my speed, we'll be there in no time." Sonic said. Appearing next to him, as intangible as a ghost, Okami's spirit pointed Sonic forward.

"Once we exit this forest, we should come upon Shinshu Field. That is where one of the saplings is." the wolf explained. As the spirit vanished, Sonic nodded.

"Okay! Then let's go!" he called. He started to run off, kicking up bits of grass as his legs blazed across the ground.

**_TO BE CONTINUED..._**


End file.
